Experience Report: Teaching Computer Science Ethics using Science Fiction Across Multiple Institutions and Course Types
Engaging undergraduate students in the study of ethics and technology is an important and difficult task. Using narratives, especially science fiction stories, has become a popular way to engage students on these topics. We detail experiences across five different institutions of implementing both full semester and single lecture lessons from the recently published book, Computing and Technology Ethics: Engaging through Science Fiction. We give an overview of how different instructors have used or adapted the book to courses, and provide a set of examples, guides and resources for educators to use this book in either a stand-alone class or in parts of other classes. In this article we provide an overview of these materials and explain how they — and fiction more generally — can be used to effectively teach topics in ethics to undergraduate students in computing and technology development courses. We close with a deep reflection on how the book was received by students, and general suggestions on how to implement ethics education across a variety of institutional contexts.